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It’s Disney week on Dancing With The Stars! We saw a night of many delights and a few disappointments, beauty and fun. The makeup and wardrobe departments outdid themselves. Some of the performances were mesmerizing and stunning. An occasional other was a bit off his/her usual mark due to an injury, a functional wardrobe issue, or something undefinable.

Actress Suzanne Somers:Jazz. Judges’ score 7. My score 7.

The positive: She keeps improving! To me, last week was her best, followed by this week. This dance was pretty, sophisticated, elegant, graceful, and showed good lines. Like Patti, Suzanne has a lovely, gracious, and professional attitude.

The negative: Unfortunately, her shoe got caught on the hem of her dress (which has happened to both pros and contestants over the years on this show). That threw her off sync/timing for several beats, but, as a seasoned pro, she handled it well until Tony took over and got her back on track.

The negative: Near the beginning he got off timing; in this fast-paced tune he had a hard time getting back on track. It happened to be an off week for him, but I’m betting that he’ll be back to normal next week with perfect timing and fabulous form.

Singer Patti LaBelle:Waltz. Judges’ score 7. My score 6-7.

The positive: Patti exhibited proper technique and elegance in much of the dance. It was pretty and quite an improvement. She has a hurt knee, which caused Artem to choreograph/limit accordingly, but she didn’t complain and instead showed her usual gracious and I-don’t-quit attitude.

The negative: Artem didn’t waste as much time as usual this week, but he still wasted some. Len usually calls the pros out on time-wasters but hasn’t done so yet this season.

Young Actress Willow Shields:Foxtrot. Judges’ score 8-9. My score 8.

The positive: She’s amazing in general and was adorable as Alice. Creative and cute but challenging choreo. Very good!

The negative: Needs to focus a bit more on follow-through and maintaining form.

“Bachelor” Chris Soules:Quickstep. Judges’ score 7. My score 7.

The positive: His timing was pretty good despite his calf injury. Good attitude. Nice job to a very-fast song!

The negative: Needs to focus more on musicality, allowing the music to engulf and lead him. Yes, it’s all about the music and becoming one with it; makes a huge difference.

Veteran Noah Galloway:Foxtrot. Judges’ score 7. My score 6-7.

The positive: Hard to top the winning attitude and inspiration he shows. This dance, due to the nature of its rises and falls and other necessary movements, was a major challenge for him. He did everything that Sharna taught him to do and his best.

The negative: The challenges of the dance and of Noah’s physical limitations/capabilities forced Sharna to choreograph too carefully, including, I think, to take the focus off what she thought Noah couldn’t do. Since the first moment Sharna joined the show a couple of years ago, I’ve been fond of her and her choreo. I could be mistaken, or some of you may just plain disagree with me, but I was disappointed tonight that Sharna’s choreo was so thin on foxtrot content and participation by the male. Although Noah’s left leg doesn’t function well enough to do the foxtrot’s proper rises and falls, I believe that Sharna should have made the dance more traditional and that in the process Noah would have done the job as well as possible to show us a complete and recognizable foxtrot, even if the rises and falls wouldn’t have been perfect.

Musician Riker Lynch:Paso Doble. Judges’ score 9-10. My score 9-10.

The positive: An unusually fast paso, super-fast. Fab choreo, Allison! Riker was very skilled as pirate Jack Sparrow. Great technique, form, timing; tight, correct, passionate, strong, exciting, In sync all the way. Wow! I couldn’t look away, didn’t want it to stop, and want to see it again. Some will call it the dance of the night.

The negative: Nothing that I saw.

Actress Rumer Willis:Samba. Judges’ score 9-10. My score 9-10.

The positive: Stellar musicality, timing, technique, choreo/samba content. Beautiful/graceful form/lines/footwork/arm extensions and hands. Fun and gorgeous all at once. I couldn’t look away! Some may call this the dance of the night.

The negative: Didn’t notice anything. Did you?

Gymnast Nastia Liukin:Jazz. Judges’ scores 9-10. My score 9-10.

The positive: Fast and fun but also elegant, athletic, cute and pretty; beautiful timing, frame, choreo, technique, footwork/pointed toes, arms/hands. Stellar choreography that we expect from Derek and excellent execution. As outstanding as it was, I somehow preferred Rumer’s samba with Val.

The negative: Did you notice anything?

WHO WAS ELIMINATED TONIGHT? Suzanne Somers. Darn it! Like Patti, Suzanne has a lovely attitude/spirit and a graceful but fun presence. She had improved in the last few weeks, especially last week, so her departure is a disappointment. In my opinion her performances have exceeded Patti’s; as much as I like Patti, she should have been the one to go home tonight.

NEXT WEEK: Patti, or Chris, should go home. I like them both, but they’re “on the bottom.”

What do you agree with? Disagree with? Which dances did you like the most and the least? Have good points to add? Weigh in with your comments! Praise, slam, explain, inspire, or whatever. Let’s get a great conversation going!

Writing has been an important talent and part of my life since I was a child.Professionally, after decades of employment for others, I founded Writestyle in 1996 to provide writing, editing, proofreading, training, and more to clients worldwide (www.writestyle.com).Clients often call my work “magic.”I have written and/or edited for “Coexistence Magazine” (national), for “Ohio Magazine,” and for various newspapers.In addition, I have edited or contributed to the writing of numerous books.Personally, I have written in various genres.I have always composed poetry; as such, I have won awards and publication for some of my poems, and I am compiling a book of my poetry.One of my children’s books is set for publication.With my second husband, family and friends in Ohio, I enjoy music and dance, aid charitable causes, and strive for beauty and harmony in life.

First to dance was Suzanne Somers. As you know from my last week’s comment, I was not fond of her dance at that time. Apparently, America agreed with me and she was sent home. I felt her dance this week was mostly a lot of ‘posing’ type movements and not much actual dance steps. Anyway, I’m fine that she went home.

Robert and Kym’s dance was full of energy and lots of fun. The quick step is such a fast dance. Judges said that at times he was out of step which I guess I thought too. They wound up with the lowest score of the night–a 24. I wish Robert would shave; he looks much more handsome with a clean-shaven face.

Patti and Artem’s waltz was so graceful and flowing. It was so pleasant to watch. The music ‘Wish Upon A Star’ was beautiful. I have to say since the season started, I have enjoyed watching Patti more than I have Suzanne. I know you were pretty much comparing the two, but my pick is Patti.

Willow and Mark’s dance was good and entertaining. As the judges said, at times they were a little off. They ended up with a good score–a 34.

Chris and Witney danced the quick step as did Robert and Kym. Chris was dancing with an ankle injury; however, Carrie Ann thought it was his best dance. There were varying opinions among the judges. I thought he did okay. Received a score of 27.

Noah and Sharna danced the foxtrot. He is always very confident when he dances. Has great lines and musicality. Received a score of 28.

Riker and Allison danced a paso doble. He looked awesome in the pirate’s costume! They danced the heck out of that paso–FABULOUS!!! So fast and furious! One of the judges commented that it was a ‘BEAST’ of a paso–I agree wholeheartedly!! I just felt so happy after they danced. Bruno said it was a ‘SUPER’ production. Received a score of 38. I feel they should have gotten a 40.

Rumer and Val danced a samba. It was outstanding. She continues to be at the top of the leaderboard. Received a score of 39, which was 1 point higher than both Riker and Nastia.

Nastia and Derek danced jazz to music from ‘Frozen’. They danced another fantastic dance. Continues to be consistently good. Received a score of 38. What irked me was a comment from Carrie Ann stating something about the ‘lip sync’ being off. There are times I simply cannot stand some of her stupid comments!

What was up with Julianne’s ‘pink’ hair this week?!? Sure didn’t do her any favors.

At this point in time I think anyone can win between Nastia, Riker or Rumer. I’m not putting them in any certain order–did so alphabetically here just to be fair.

Hi, John. Thanks for weighing in. I think I agree with you that Ryker’s was the dance of the night. It was intensely sharp and exciting; I was so deeply into it that when it stopped I felt as though I’d been thrown off the merry-go-round. It drew the biggest reaction from me–I loved it.

Hi, TJ. What could be better than the diverse, heartwarming offerings of Disney? You can’t go wrong with that. I don’t know that I have anymore words to describe Robert; something about him is so magnetic and endearing; genuine, too. His timing was majorly off in the first half, but he kept going like a pro, as though nothing had gone wrong, and I know he’ll wow us again next week. Noah is another for whom we don’t have enough superlatives; I can’t wait to see what he’ll come up with next. I didn’t hear the ‘lip sync’ comment by Carrie Ann, but if I recall correctly Derek and Nastia were lip-syncing; all I know is that Derek and Nastia dance beautifully together, and it appears to be almost effortless, although we know they practice for many hours. I also loved Rumer and Val’s performance, too–fantastic. But I think the one that most captivated me was Riker’s paso; a hundred WOWs is all I have left to say about it. Which couple will knock our socks off next time?

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About Me

Professionally, after decades of employment for others, Vickie Weaver founded Writestyle in 1996 to provide writing, editing, proofreading, training, and more to clients worldwide. She has written and/or edited for “Coexistence Magazine” (national), “Ohio Magazine,” and various newspapers. In addition, she has edited or contributed to the writing of numerous books. Personally, she has won awards and publication for some of her poems and is compiling a book of her poetry. She enjoys music and dance, and strives for beauty and harmony in life.